The technical field of the invention is high voltage switching devices and, in particular, high reliability spark gap switches.
Spark gap switches are devices which transfer energy, generally from a power source to a load, utilizing a plasma discharge. In such plasma discharge devices, the medium between the terminal electrodes is excited to induce an electron avalanche within the medium. An ionization path or plasma channel forms within the medium bridging the terminal electrodes and thus collapsing the voltage differential between the terminal electrodes.
Many conventional spark-gap switches tend to experience large jitter, leading to an unreliable and unpredictable switching behavior. Generally, this problem appears to be the result of the geometry of the terminal electrodes in such switches. Often, spark gap switches employ sharp pointed electrodes, which concentrate the electric field and result in a degradation of the breakdown process. Moreover, such spark gap switches are more susceptible to deterioration due to electrode erosion, and consequently have relatively short lifetimes.
There exists a need for better high power switches having greater controllability, predictability, and reliability. There also exists a need for high power switches particularly spark-gap switches and the like providing low jitter (less than 10 nanoseconds) and higher repetition firing rates (greater than 100 Hz). Furthermore, a switch having lower overvoltaging requirements (less than 50%), being substantially insensitive to reverse currents, and yielding an increase in the electrode life would satisfy a substantial need in the art.